Toggle fastening means fob



Oct. 1, 1946. H. woLqo'rT TOGGLE FASTENING MEANS FOR FLOATING CLOSURES Original Filed Oct. 5, 1940 Reissuecl Oct. 1, 1946 TOGGLE. FASTENING 'MEANS. FOR I FLOATING CLOSURES Herbert Wolcott, (ilolumbimMo. OrlginalNo. 2,342,095, dated.Fehr1iary'15',..1944;.

- Serial Nor359i886,'0ctober;5;a1940.; Applicationi for reissue Felprual-y 15, 1345, Serial No. 578,068.-

roast (o1; 220:5)?

Thisinvention relates to improvements inclo- I sures. and has particular. referenceto. hand Ioper-. ated" closures. for water-softener. tanks. and the. like, and has for its principalobject. the. proprojecting, arms 24, said pairs being. disposedcn. opposite sidesjof the. body and each arm being provided with an inturned cylindrical trunnion 26; The. trunnions 26f. on adjacentv arms 24'j are vision of, a closure. that isefficientand can be 5 in axial" alignment and. inspaced apart relation easily closed and openedby hand andwithout the. to each other as well as to the body of. the aid'of tools. member l8. f I 1 A further objectof the. present-inventionisthe A cup-shaped cover mer nber 2B is. provided provision of a. closure. having a cover member with an annular'fiange 30 havi g. ado'wnturned equipped with means whereby itisliftedtobreak groove 32 adapted toreceive the" upper edge potthe seal as the cover securingmeans. is. oper- .tion or seat '22 of the body member la, with ated into, cover releasing position. suitable gaskets 34" of compressible sealing ma- Another object of. the inventionis the proterialv suchas rubber, disposed therebetween'to vision of a closure construction having. a cup form anairtight seal. shaped cover member with securing meanswhere- A cross bar or. lever 36iis formed with a 1011? by the cover member is contacted (in the cover gitudinal reinforcing rib. and. provided. at one closing or securing operation) at its center porend with spacedapart recesses 38 adapted to retion and below the plane 01' the sealing joint. spectively receive the trunnions .26 at one side A still further object of thisinvention is the offthe body member 18 for pivoting" thereon." It provision of'a closure construction wherein all is apparent. that by properlypositioning the bar the movable parts are demountably connected. 36} its web portion 40 dividing the recesses 38 together. .can .be inserted betweenthe spaced apart trun- Other objects. are, si-mplicityand economy. of. nions 2.6; and as the bar is movedto the'posia. construction, easeandefliciency of operation, and tion over across the cover, member '2 8 the' trunada-ptability for use with. various types. ofcon- 5 nionswill rest in they bearings 42.1Jrovided by tainers. saidrecesses 38 in saidend portion, of'the bar Reference willnow be. had .to theaccompanye 3.6; and. can not be released therefrom un i he ing drawing. wherein; bar is again movedback to the pointorinsertiojrlj; Figure 1 is. asideelevationof a closure con- The free end of the bar 35 projects b yond the struction embodying this invention. periphery ofthecover member 28' and is pro;-

Figure an an end elevation of. the closure. vided with a depression 44. p Figure 3is a planview of the closure with the A depending lugAB .isprovided atthe middle securingcam-arm in open orcover-releasing plosie portion opfltheibar or lever and. has a oundedtion. end.portion.48 adapted.to'contactthejcovermem Figure 4 is a side elevation, partlyin section, 35 ber'.28. atits. central. point, and. below the gas' showing. the. closure structure. in partly-,.. opened kets. 34,-when operatedto. force the cover. main-j position with dotted lines indicating the. posiber 28 toward the body-member l8. andthere ll tion in which the cover member is partly raised compress the gaskets 34. off its Seam It hasv been found.. conveni,ent to use ordinary Figure 5 is an inverted plan view. of 'thecover 4Q fruit jar rubber. gaskets in this closure. These membergaskets are of a suitable thickness so that if Likereferences referzto similar parts. throughthe jointisnot sufliciently. tight another fruit out: the several viewshof. the drawing, and the. jar rubber may-beadded without interieringwith numeral l0 designates a portion of a. tank hav the voperationor the. closure parts. H v in: a' top inletpor-tion- 12' which is-externally When the. closure. has been. secur in h threaded at l4,-to.receive the internalthreads l6 closed position for. aperiod. oi'timeit is ofttimesv ofthe; closure body-"member; I8 having-the cene round .difficult-to release the cover. memberfrom. l p 20 th u h; ch materials/may its sealingposition... To overcome this difficulty bedeliveredto and fromthe tank. Theflul pr. andto insure that the cover seal will a ways b edge 22 of the body member l8,,surrounding thev 5 hrQk-enlwhen the ba ahismoved outwardly from opening, is vpreierably circular and. in. a horiitsvposition above the cover-member 28 the folzontal plane to. present a=smooth and evenseatlowing-gasket loosening means .is. provided. ina urtaceero scaling: the-closure as hereinafter -A.1ug, 5a positioned. at each side. of the lonet fo th; gitudinai reinforcing rib. of the bar. 36' adjacent membertS-has twopairs-ofoutwardly. 56 it pivoted end is adapted to. movethr are as said bar is pivoted on the trunnions 26. Arcuate tongues 52 integral with the cover member 26 are positioned in spaced relation for accommodating said rib and in the path of travel of the lugs 50, whereby when the parts are in the closed position and the bar 36 is moved into open position the lugs 56 will move into engagement with the tongues 52 and carry them upwardly, thereby lifting the cover 28 oil the seat 22 and breaking the seal therebetween.

A toggle securing means 54 comprises a link 56 and a cam member 66 which cooperate to maintain the bar 36 in its depressed operative position. The link 56 has terminal bearing sockets 60 on opposite sides of a longitudinal web portion which is adapted for movement through the space between the adjacent trunnions 26 when the latter are engaged by said bearing sockets 60 for oscillating movement of said link 56. When in operative position on the trunnions, both said link and the bar 36 are retained against casual displacement by the body member l8; moreover, the latter is formed with enlargements at approximately the height of the trunnion; 26 and adapted for engagement by terminal nose portions formed on said link and bar respectively, thereby also limiting the movement of the link and bar into inoperative or open position (see link 56 in Figure 4).

i The cross bar 62 at the other end of the link 56 is adapted to be positioned in the bearing recess 64 of the cam member 66 which in turn engages the depression 44 at the free end of the bar or lever 36. provided with a lever arm 68 adapted to be moved to a position substantially parallel with the bar 36 in effecting the cam or toggle action in which the cross bar 62 is moved past center, thereby compressing the gaskets 34, afterwhich the tendency will be to move the lever 68 toward the bar 56, thereby insuring the proper securing of the parts. The cross bar 62 of link 56 is grooved at 10 to receive the boss 12 extending into recess 64 from the cam member 66, when those parts are in a certain relative position; thereafter as the cam member is rotated on the cross bar the cam member will be secured in its proper operative or closed position.

; Referring to Figures 1" and 4 it will be noted that the tongues 52 do not contact the bar 36 when the cover member is in the closed position, so that the only contact the securing bar has with said cover member is that which takes place between the rounded end 48 of the lug 46 and the central portion of the cover member and this being at a point below the joint between said cover member and the seat 22.

This special form of the cover member securing means and mode of operation of same insures a very definite and accurate positioning of the closure parts.

It will be observed that each and every part of the closure structure is easily removable from its mounting without the removal of pins or the like; and furthermore, each part can be cast and immediatelyused without the necessity of any machining, thereby eliminating much expense. The principal reason why no close flts are required in the present improved construction is because of the structural character of the sealing parts and the fact that the jar rubber gaskets can be easily varied to vary the thickness of the sealing layer by adding to or removing from the gasket assembly one or more Of the jar rubbers as required.

It will be noted that when the closure structure is open, the operator has free access to the interior of the tank through the opening 20.

While I have illustrated and herein described a very practical and efficient embodiment of the improvements comprising my invention, it is obvious that various formal changes and modifications may readily be made while still embracing the essential characteristics of the invention, and I desire to reverse the right to such variations as may fall within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A closure comprising a tubular body member adapted to be secured for communication with a container and having an annular seat at its outer The said cam member 66 is extremity; a cup-shaped cover member having an annular groove adapted to receive said annular seat with a gasket therebetween when the cupped portion is extended into the opening of said body member below said seat, a bar releas ably pivoted at one side of said body, member for movement to and from a position to extend entirely across said cover member thereabove and having a depending control lug with a rounded end extending into said cup-shaped cover and contacting the bottomthereof below said annular seat; and toggle means releasably pivoted to the other side of said body member, operable to force and secure said bar against said cover member whereby the gasket between the cover member and seat is compressed.

2. A closure comprising a tubular body member adapted to be secured for communication with a container and having an annular seat at its outer extremity; a cup-shaped cover member having an annular groove adapted to receive said annular seat with a gasket therebetween when the cupped portion is extended into the opening of said body member below said seat, a bar releasably pivoted at one side of said body member for movement to and from a position to extend entirely across said cover member thereabove and having a depending control lug with a rounded end extending into said cup-shaped cover and contacting the bottom thereof below said annular seat; toggle means releasably pivoted to the other side of said body member, operable to force and secure said bar against said cover member whereby the gasket between the cover member and seat is compressed, and a lug carried by said bar adapted to engage and tilt said cover member on said seat as said bar is moved from the cover securing position. v v

3. A closure structure comprising a body member having a closure seat, a movable cover member adapted for closure engagement with said seat, said body member having pairs of trunnions, with the trunnions of each pair spaced apart in axial alignment, and cover securing means comprising cooperative pivotal members each formed with open bearing recesses separated by a web portion accommodated by the space between the trunnions, said trunnionsbeing engaged with said bearing recesses and thereby journalling said pivotal members for movement into interlocking 'e1i gagement above said cover member with one 'of said pivotal members inclamping relation with said cover member.

4. A closure structure comprising a body member having a closure seat, a movable cover mem% ber mounted in floating engagement with said seat and formed with a pair of spaced hookelemerits, and securing means including a cover'aetuating bar movable into and out of clamping engagement therewith, said bar being formed with a projection entering the space between said hook elements to prevent rotation of said cover member and also having a pair of lugs engageable with said hook elements for lifting said cover member on movement, of said bar for releasing its clamping engagement with the cover member.

5. A closure structure comprising, a body member having a closure seat and also formed with exterior horizontal trunnion elements on opposite sides of the body member, a movable cover member for engagement with said seat, and coverseourlng means comprising a cover actuating bar 15 HERBERT WOLCOTT. 

